On March 8th and 9th, in celebration of International Women's Day, women across the United States and around the world will take the streets to demand an end to violence against women. From India to Ohio, people are rising up to demand equality and an end to the violent oppression of women.

In the United States and elsewhere, violence against women is tolerated and often condoned. 1.3 million women are raped every year and one in four experiences violence at the hands of a current or former intimate partner. Many acts of rape and violence go unreported. When women do report rape, only 37% of cases are prosecuted, and just 18% of those cases end in conviction.

The violence, objectification and inequality women are subjected to at home, at work, at school and wherever we go is often dismissed as "just the way it is." We know better. Rampant sexual violence is not the natural state of things. Women's oppression and the violence and discrimination we face are the result of a system that relies on patriarchy, institutionalized sexism, and the objectification of women's bodies for profit.

Violence against women is not normal; It is not acceptable. Women and our allies in the struggle for justice will no longer tolerate it. The time is now to rise up and demand an end to violence against women in all forms. There will be demonstrations and protests throughout the United States on March 8th and 9th to say: Stop Violence Against Women Everywhere – The Status Quo Must Go!